England begin their Euro 2012 campaign against France in Donetsk on Monday, and Jermain Defoe believes Roy Hodgson's team are not at a disadvantage by playing such strong opposition in their opening match.
France are 21 matches unbeaten, a run that stretches back to Autumn 2010, and go into Monday night's match as favourites with the bookmakers.
But Jermain thinks that if England can get a result in their Group D clash, they will be in a very strong position to progress in Euro 2012.
"It's going to be a tough game. France are a great footballing nation, they've got great players. But I don't think it's a bad thing playing such a tough team in our first game," Jermain told Spurs TV.
"I think if you win a difficult game like that, it brings confidence to the camp going into the next game.
"Of late France haven't done too well at tournaments, but I think they are dark horses at Euro 2012.
"It's important at a tournament to get off to good start. I think that if we can do that, it will help hugely with the following matches."